Too Young for Excuses
by Plainsong30
Summary: One-shot. Jerry teaches a girl a life lesson that she might not forget.


**Hey there! This story had pretty much started as a ramble out of writer's block, and it isn't a permanent one-shot either. I just figured I'd post it and see what you guys thought. So if you like it and think I should expand on it, let me know! Otherwise this will just remain as a one-shot with its own message that might be interpreted differently to everyone. Thanks! - Plainsong30**

"The days are bright and filled with pain,

Enclose me in your gentle rain.

The time you ran was too insane,

We'll meet again, we'll meet again."

- _Crystal Ship_, The Doors

Around the age of thirteen, after my first boyfriend which lasted approximately forty-eight hours, I made a promise to myself that I would never rely on any boy or man. Ever. And being this young, and having just gone through a completely pointless relationship that did not require much effort to get over, I wasn't quite realistic when I made this personal promise to myself. But the thing was that whenever I did make a personal promise, I would keep my word. To myself.

You probably think this sounds crazy, but I don't do it just for myself. I do it for others, too. Pride is the only thing that keeps me on solid ground. If I gave in, who knows what would happen.

XxXxX

"Yo! Sofia!"

I looked up as I struggled with the luggage that I hauled over my shoulder. Charley, one of my neighbors who lived across from me, was passing by. He was walking his pretty colored motorcycle along beside him.

"Hi Charley," I greeted with a plain smile, slightly tired from the flight home.

"Hey Mrs. Lenox!"

"Hi Charley," my mom greeted with a wave.

"Where've you been? I was lost in physics this past week because I couldn't copy from my partner," he explained teasingly.

I cocked an eyebrow at him as I watched my mom smile before she slipped inside. "I told you, I was visiting my Dad up in Wisconsin. He wanted to take me to the shooting range."

"You go to the shooting range?" he asked, slightly surprised.

I glanced over at him with a cheeky smile. "Yes. What? You don't trust me with a gun?"

"I don't trust anybody with a gun. Especially you."

I just laughed as I watched him park his bike. "You wanna come inside? My mom's probably got something ready to eat, since I just got home."

"No, that's alright. I'm heading home anyways. Besides, I feel bad."

"Don't worry about it," I pressed. "My mom loves you."

Charley just returned a smile that gave me shivers of delight. It was then that a little green bug zipped past, a car horn going off. Charley looked up to see who it was.

"You better run off anyways," I told him. I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice. "Amy's after you."

Charley looked back and shrugged. "I'll see you later."

I just smiled as he started off, heaved my luggage once more, and started up to the front door.

Charley and I were good buddies. But the secret is that he was the forty-eight hour boyfriend which seemed to have brought on the non-reliance on boys practically four years ago.

But you want to know the awful, honest-to-God, miserable truth? I still had feelings for him.

XxXxX

"Did you see the new neighbor while you were out there?"

"What new neighbor?"

I wasn't really listening to my mother, since she had just begun feeding me tomato soup with grilled cheese to go with it. Score…

"Remember? That house kitty-corner from us had been on sale for a while. A guy just moved in recently."

"Oh?" I slurped down some soup and stuffed my mouth with grilled cheese. "You met him?"

She shrugged her shoulders, leaning against the counter as she continued glancing out the window. "How's your father been?"

I cracked my neck. "He's alright. Going shooting with him was fun. I got a couple bull's eyes."

"Good for you."

A silence followed, allowing me to figure out what else to ask. "So this new neighbor… he cute?"

"Well… he's attractive, yeah," she answered. "But, the thing is, he's kind of creepy."

"I like creepy," I teased.

"I'm serious," she laughed. "I feel like he gets around a lot. He comes off with that, sort of… playboy-type ego."

"I don't really know what that means," I answered, drinking up the rest of the soup. "But he sounds charming." She clasped her hands together, her long, skinny fingers messing with the engagement ring that sat on her left hand. "How's Jeremy?" I asked, bringing up her new fiancé.

"He's great."

I just nodded, remembering how lonely my dad had seemed back in Wisconsin. "That's good."

XxXxX

I woke up in the early hours of the morning. I hadn't had any problems falling asleep, but now, when I woke up, I was alerted with a restlessness that plotted against my need for slumber.

Giving in, I yanked myself out of bed and pulled on some sweatpants, my Converse, and finished by tying my hair into a knot.

Mom wasn't okay with me being out at night. But that was alright, because I had found a compromise.

I neared my window and pulled it up all the way, removing the screws to the screen, and pulled myself out through the landing. I dropped down onto the gazebo directly beneath the window (how fortunate), and then dropped myself down on the path that went around the house.

I loved walking. It was something that helped calm me down. So did smoking cigarettes.

I started smoking when I was fourteen-years-old. I stayed after for pottery class and ended up meeting a really nice guy, who asked if I wanted to go outside for a cigarette with him. It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever done, and I ended up throwing-up afterwards. A bad experience that led to a bad habit. I've no idea how…

The night was cool and dry. It was quiet too. The only sound were the crickets that were still out and my feet beating against the sidewalk. The sound of constant traffic off the highway was a mere whisper.

The moon was near the western horizon at this point, and I stopped to stare. If there was one thing I loved about nature, it was the moon. The midnight sun. I pulled out my pack of Camels that I had gotten one of my friends to buy for me and lit it up, sucking in the fumes that buzzed my brain.

"Well, hello there."

I looked over, slightly spooked to only see the silhouette of a tall, broad-shouldered man near the new house.

"Hello?" was all I replied. My heart increased in tempo.

"You live in the neighborhood?" he asked casually. I was so hypnotized by his perfect figure that I answered immediately.

"I live kitty-corner from you," I replied, pointing towards my house. "You're the new neighbor, right?"

"That's right. I'm Jerry," he introduced.

I stuck out my own hand to shake his. "Sofia. I'm Olivia's daughter… you've met her, haven't you?"

"Oh, yeah. For sure. I can see the resemblance," he replied.

I tapped the cigarette, trying to make him out in the darkness. I wondered how he could even see me. He was pale, and practically glowed in the darkness. His dark hair matched his dark eyes, and dark, thick eyebrows that twisted upwards in an amused expression. A leer covered his face, his arms folding over his black t-shirt as he came to stand at the end of his driveway, which I was standing on.

"What're you doing out so late?" he questioned. He didn't sound friendly when he asked it. I was usually pretty friendly with people… only if they were friendly back, that is.

"I couldn't sleep," I told him with a scoff. "What's your excuse?"

"I work nights," he explained.

"Then shouldn't you be at work?"

He laughed. "Shouldn't you not be smoking?"

"I'm eighteen," I lied.

"And I'm twelve," he mocked. I was shocked by his quick comebacks. "Besides, it doesn't really matter how old you are. Nobody should be smoking," he told me.

I tapped the cigarette again. "Well, I have my excuses," I replied bluntly.

He stared at me, a mixture of interest and curiosity flashing in his demon-like eyes. I looked away, slightly frightened. Mom wasn't kidding…

"At your age, you have excuses for smoking?" he quizzed with heavy sarcasm. I just shrugged my shoulders and nodded. "Sounds like bullshit to me."

I stared at him, my eyes practically bugging out of my head in shock. It wasn't until he said it that I realized how ridiculous it all sounded. Smoking? Me?

"If you think that reason's gunna work on people, you better come up with a better plan… so why don't you go home," he told me, "and get some sleep."

I continued gawking at him, slightly dismantled by his words, and turned away obediently. He had told me to leave as an order, as if I were some irresponsible little girl who didn't know any better, and that it was his job to send me home.

And he was right.

"Oh, and Sofia?" I turned back robotically, still alarmed by his statement. "I'll be seeing you."

I just gulped and kept moving. When I rounded around my house, I broke into a sprint down the path, climbed up onto the gazebo and yanked myself through the open window. I put the screen back and bolted the window down. Then I went to the bathroom and flushed the rest of the cigarettes down the toilet.


End file.
